Posts Tagged ‘plane’

Happy New Year, Japan: Kamikaze Plane Cards From 1937 [Airplane]

Japan is just a few hours away from celebrating New Year, the biggest date in the calendar. These New Year cards from 1937 mark the first ever Japanese flight to Europe, which took over 51 hours in the Kamikaze plane.

Back in 1937, the Mitsubishi Ki-15 plane flew from Tokyo to London in 51-hours, 17 minutes and 23 seconds (sure puts the 12-hour flight we endure these days into perspective), with the flight sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper to celebrate the UK’s King George VI’s coronation. The Kamikaze was piloted by Masaaki Iinuma, who died a few years later in the Pacific war, and sadly the Kamikaze didn’t fare much better either. It was placed in a memorial center a few years after the inaugural flight, but the building, along with the plane, was destroyed in WWII.

These New Year’s greeting cards are a beautiful reminder of the journey undertaken 72 years ago. Happy New Year, Japanese readers! [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston via Pink Tentacle]








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Typo Caused Airbus Plane Tail-Strike During Takeoff in Australia [Planes]

Currently, there's a typo in a trending topic on Twitter, and it's doing my head in, though at least it won't be responsible for a plane tail-strike like the one that occurred at Melbourne Airport in Australia earlier this year.

The typo has just been discovered as the reason why the United Arab Emirates A340-541 Airbus had problems taking off, with a report claiming:

"During the reduced thrust takeoff, the aircraft's tail made contact with the runway surface, but the aircraft did not begin to climb. The captain commanded and selected take-off and go-around engine thrust and the aircraft commenced a climb. After jettisoning fuel to reduce the landing weight, the flight crew returned the aircraft to Melbourne for landing."

Apparently, the plane's first officer recorded the weight into the flight system as 262.9 tons, when in actual fact it was 362.9 ton. Quite a difference, you'll agree. While there were no injuries to the 257 passengers, 14 cabin crew and four flight crew, two of the crew resigned afterwards, presumably from the shame of watching the tail of the aircraft bounce against the runway three times. [ATSB report via Ieee Spectrum]




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Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner takes flight for the first time
It's not every day a a major new aircraft takes the skies for the first time, but today's special: Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is currently taking its very first test flight over the skies of Everett, Washington. Over 55 airlines including Continental and Northwest have already purchased some 840 of the next-gen planes, with All Nippon Airways scheduled to take the first delivery. The test flight is scheduled to land in a couple hours -- we're assuming work to mount Boeing's airborne laser system on the nose in order to defeat hackers will begin shortly thereafter.

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner takes flight for the first time originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solar Impulse Plane Flies For First Time in Switzerland [Plane]

The Solar Impulse plane was flown for the first time in Switzerland yesterday, and leading the solar-powered project was Captain Bertrand Piccard, part of the first team to fly the world in a balloon in 1999.

The Solar Impulse team has been working on the project since 2003, with the carbon-fiber plane wingspan measuring 262-feet and weighing 4,409 pounds. Over at Dübendorf Airfield in Switzerland yesterday, pilot Markus Scherdel successfully flew it for the first time, flying 350 meters in 28 seconds, with an altitude of just a meter. Powering the four electric motors are 12,000 photovoltaic solar cells, though yesterday they were aided with on-board batteries.

Despite being worked on for close to seven years, it's still early days yet for the Impulse Solar, with the next big step in the quest to circumnavigate the world being a 36-hour flight in summer 2010. Make it so, Captain Piccard. [Wired]




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Captain Piccard’s Solar Impulse takes flight
They said it couldn't be done. They laughed and questioned what would happen when the sun sets, but the man whose passport reads Piccard, Bertrand, and whose bold will and bald helm match a similarly named Capitaine, has now overseen the first solar-powered flight on the Solar Impulse HB-SIA. Okay, so it was 1,150 feet flown at a meter above ground level, but that's just classic Swiss caution for you, no reason not to celebrate the fact that there's now a flying tub powered purely by solar energy and promising a future of aircraft operating indefinitely -- so long as the sun doesn't forget to rise every morning. This comes mere days after the first runway tests were carried out, leading us to believe that this is one mission with a glorious chance of success.

Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse takes flight originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Captain Piccard’s Solar Impulse starts runway testing
Good news, kids -- the solar-powered jet with globetrotting ambitions has started sneaking out of the hangar and onto the runway for some mild exercise in the form of landing gear and taxi testing. Captained by Bertrand Piccard -- a real person -- the Solar Impulse project is still on track for a 2012 globe circumnavigation attempt powered only by the sun's rays from above and the well-wishes from below. The humongous bird is described as having "the wingspan of an Airbus and the weight of a car," and its recent outdoorsy jaunts have done nothing to dampen spirits, making that roadmap for its first flight early next year seem entirely viable. We've got no less than three videos for you after the break, but we won't mind if you only watch one.

Continue reading Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse starts runway testing

Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse starts runway testing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Southwest builds first ‘green plane,’ Ma Earth shows her gratitude
Southwest Airlines may not own a plane with a headrest infotainment system, but it's still far and away the most enjoyable commercial flight you'll find in the US of A (save for Virgin America, naturally). Granted, we'd like to see in-flight WiFi offered on a few more of its flights (read: 100 percent of them), but hey, we'll take free checked bags and friendly employees any day of the week. We'll also take fuel savings and environment stewardship, both of which Southwest is aiming to give us by creating the planet's first "green plane." By utilizing recyclable InterfaceFLOR carpet, weight-saving seat covers and life vest pouches, a lighter foam fill in the seats and aluminum (as opposed to plastic) seat rub strips, the newfangled Boeing 737-700 ends up some 472 pounds lighter than a conventional one. The savings? 9,500 gallons of jet fuel per year. We're not sure when the bird is expected to take her first voyage, but here's hoping a few others are hatched in the near future.

[Via DailyFinance]

Read - Southwest press release
Read - China View's fuel calculations

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Southwest builds first 'green plane,' Ma Earth shows her gratitude originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Antares DLR-H2 becomes planet’s first fuel cell-powered aircraft

Fuel cells may have lost some steam of late here in the automotive realm, but they're still going strong at 30,000 feet. Over in Hamburg, Germany, the Antares DLR-H2 has become the first piloted aircraft capable of taking off using only power from fuel cells, which means that it flies with absolutely no carbon emissions. The craft is based on the Antares 20E glider, which boasts a wingspan of just over 65 feet and has a cruising range of 466 miles over five hours. Currently, the propulsion system permits maximum flying speeds of around 105mph, but we're certain those behind the creation are gunning for more. As for its future? It'll be stationed at Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg where it'll act a "flying test platform" for the next three years, and afterwards, we fully expect to see this thing fetch a pretty penny on eBay. Action-packed video is after the break.

Continue reading Video: Antares DLR-H2 becomes planet's first fuel cell-powered aircraft

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Video: Antares DLR-H2 becomes planet's first fuel cell-powered aircraft originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Captain Piccard unveils Solar Impulse HB-SIA solar-powered plane

You might have seen solar-powered planes before, but few of them come with as much world-changing ambition as the Solar Impulse. Launched in 2003, the project aims to demonstrate the viability of renewable energy sources by being the first to perform a manned flight around the globe using only solar power. The technology is nothing to scoff at, as the 200-feet wingspan features 12,000 photovoltaic solar cells bringing power to four electric motors. Captain Bertrand Piccard, one of the key men behind this project, is best known as one half of the first team to circumnavigate the world in a balloon in 1999. He hopes, together with partner André Borschberg, to repeat that achievement in Solar Impulse's next iteration, the HB-SIB, in 2012. Make it so, guys.

[Via Gizmag]

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Captain Piccard unveils Solar Impulse HB-SIA solar-powered plane originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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